Chhessy, cheesy, cheesy
I loved the early hard rock GFR. Heavy loud bass and screaming guitar. The songs and playing were basic but fun. I also liked the later albums such as "we're an american band" "phoenix" and "Shinin on" hey even Born to die, but this....ugggh, bubblegumtrashyhornblowincommercialmidstreamrubbish. Forget this one please and listen to any of the others.
Not Great, not terrible either.
I heard alot of negative reviews about this cd so I almost didn't buy it. Not as bad as I thought. A little cheesy at times. Nothing like there first 5 albums which were great. But, by far is not there greatest cd either. Watch Granny run run sounds like grandpa got viagra. Of course this album was released in 1974, before viagra existed. Now I have all GFr's albums (except for there early 80's releases). Much more to Gfr than the capitol series. Very interesting band, glad I got into them. Mark Farner was very political as well. Wonder what his take would be on the happenings on the iraq war?
A refreshing change for Grand Funk !
Any Grand Funk fan can simply look at the album cover of "All The Girls In The World Beware"...predict a change in direction for the band.This was the first Grand Funk album I ever heard...on 8-TRACK tape... may they rest in peace. As a teenager it was a fun album...and hearing it now after all of these years..."All The Girls..." is STILL a fun album...not the usual Grand Funk sound...but a GREAT change of pace ! Things get started upbeat...with Craig Frost's piano opening on "Responsibility" setting the tone for the album's style...and as soon as Mark Farner starts singing...you want to sing along...which happens quite often on this album !
"Running" is a great Don Brewer song...and has a "Rare Earth"...70's Motown feel to it... complete with a horn section...which continues to appear throughout the album...it's a great "driving" tune.
"Life" is very similar...with some great Mark Farner guitar and solid bass lines by Mel Schacher. Am I hearing 70's "Temptations" ? A great song !
"Look At Granny Run"...well...while not my favorite...it's fun...humorous and catchy ! I have this frightening of image of my grandfather chasing my grandmother around in their senior years...which is okay of course...but not something I sit and think about. More great horns on this one !
"Memories" is the the ballad contribution...and Mark Farner and the band are great here...a vey bluesy feel...and an excellent change of pace at this point on the album ! Nice job !
" All The Girls In The World Beware" is pretty good...again...a 70's Temptation/Motown sound....GREAT bass and keyboards here by Mel and Craig.
"Wild"...eventually a "B-side"...is a great song...complete with horns...and great playing from the entire band ! You definitely want to move and sing along !
"Good And Evil"...ahhh...now THIS is some back to basics Grand Funk...a medium tempo song with a great blues touch...EXCELLENT guitar by Mark...and EXCELLENT keyboards from Craig....but everyone is very good here.
"Bad Time" and "Some Kind Of Wonderful"...the hits...speak for themselves...great songs...fun to listen to !
If you're new to Grand Funk..."All The Girls In The World Beware" is a good place to start ! It's a fun change of pace. A VERY GOOD album...enjoy it! Again..kudos to Capitol for all of the "extras" and the 24-bit remastering !
What Happened?
If I had never heard Grand Funk before, and picked up this
c.d.,I'd think "not too bad". However,I've been a fan of this
band from the very beginning, so I just have got to ask,"What
happened to that hard rock edge that made this band so great?"
This is a very pop sounding recording. It seems that they
went out in search of chart topping hits,instead of staying
true to the music that got them where they were in the first
place. I think this recording is the beginning of the down
fall for these talented musicians.
Fortunately they would return to form,unfortunately it
would be a number of years before they got there.
If you are an all around music lover, I'd say,pick this
one up,there are some good songs and you'll probably like it.
However if you are a hard core Grand Funk fan,or a hard rock
music fan,I'd advise you to pass this one up. This band has
done much better in the past,and will come around again to do
much better in the future. Maybe they just needed a little
time off.
Thanks
GFR the roots of Hybrid rock.
This was GFR, first the Heavy Metal Monster Power Trio; Then the powerful hard rock grooving quartet, and Now on All The Girls In The World Beware GFR became a Hard rock R 'N' B hybrid, way ahead of their time. While this Album upset many of GFRs hard Rock Fans, especially with Songs like Look At Granny Run Run, Bad Time and Some Kind Of Wonderful it, as I said, was an album way ahead of its time; and it influenced many bands and artists such as Prince for a long long time. Many artists in the last 10-15 years have been mixing Hip Hop and Rock; GFR mixed Rock and R N B long ago (back in 75). This album still has the GFR signature sound and had some heavy rockers like Life (a good hard rocker), Runnin (very sophisticated lyrics, great singing by Don Brewer and a cool horn section), Good N Evil (an experimental song for GFR), And Responsibility (again sophisticated lyrics by Mark Farner). Wild, All The Girls in the world beware and Memories are also good songs; Memories is a very pretty ballad. All The Girls has one of the best Bass lines I have ever heard-Mel Schacher Rocks! and Wild is a typical rock n roll I am a pig songs. Bad Time and Some Kind Of Wonderful both charted in the top 5 and are still main stays in GFRs live shows. This CD is 24 bit remasterred and has a hidden track. It sounds great, it also has new liner notes which are excellent and very nice artwork. This is a must have for any real Grand Funk Fan and a must have for those who would like to see the roots of Hybrid rock.
